Last Sunday morning, on the 26th June, I accompanied my mother, who is visiting me in Rome currently, to the Vatican Museum.
It was 10:30 when we arrived at the Vatican. I did not realize that it was the last Sunday of the month, when the museum opened to visitors free of charge, until I caught sight of people queueing along the tall wall of Vatican. It was a long long queue stretching from the museum entrance to the other end which almost reached St.Peter Square. Summer holidays just started, visitors from all over the world are pouring in.
On Sundays, the museum closes at 2:00 in the afternoon, and the last entrance admission is at 12:30. I did not think we would manage to get in the museum by queueing at the end of the line. While I was standing near the entrance trying to figure out the above mentioned entrance rules, my mother started a conversation with a group of five people who were queueing. My mother is the type of person who could break boundaries quickly with strangers. She is a naturally born diplomat. After a few minutes, she signalled me to approach the group and introduced me to them. They were seniors, coming from my home city Guangzhou, China. They were doing a European excursion. Eventually both my mother and I became part of the group and we entered the museum together at about 11:00 AM.
Vatican Museum is always a pleasurable place to visit. Such a treasure for the world to admire.
We strolled around until 1:30PM. We were exhausted, thirsty, and hungry. Vatican Museum always makes visitors feel this way at the end of the tour for there is so much to see, to absorb, and so many stairs to climb. Be prepared for it.
I was listening to my Ipod to keep my spirit up. After listening to all the uploaded songs, I switched to radio channel and it was one o'clock news, talking about the recent controversial debate between Italy and France. I read about it the day before in the news which the title was : "Florence requests Mona Lisa's return, Paris says no way":
Florence, 24 June (AKI) - Italy has launched a campaign to convince the Louvre Museum in Paris to lend the Mona Lisa painting to Florence's Uffizi Gallery in 2013 to mark the 100th anniversary of its recovery following one of history's most famous art thefts.
The Italian Culture Ministry and the Province of Florence have jointly launched an appeal to the French to lend them what may be the world's most famous masterpieces, but the prestigious French museum said the painting is not in the condition to withstand the trip south.
Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was briefly displayed in the Uffizi in 1913 after being recovered in a Florence hotel two years after its theft from the Louvre.
That was the last time it appeared in Italy and only one of three times the work was displayed outside of the Louvre, according to a statement posted on Thursday on the Province of Florence website.
Starting with Italian politicians, the initiative aims to collect at least 100,000 signatures to be sent to France in around six months, the statement said.
"This is not a declaration of war against France. It's an appeal aimed at collaboration," said Silvano Vinceti, the head of an Italian Culture Ministry historical society jointly organising the petition along with Florence.
"The Gioconda has left the Louvre museum three times. It can do so again," he said, referring to the Italian name for the Mona Lisa.
On Friday the Louvre released a statement saying that Mona Lisa is "extremely fragile" making it 1,100-kilometer trip to the Tuscan museum "absolutely unimaginable."
Interesting cultural event,isn't it? Italy owns so much historical treasure, however, just the absence of one Mona Lisa makes Italy feel there is something missing in their culture.
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It was 10:30 when we arrived at the Vatican. I did not realize that it was the last Sunday of the month, when the museum opened to visitors free of charge, until I caught sight of people queueing along the tall wall of Vatican. It was a long long queue stretching from the museum entrance to the other end which almost reached St.Peter Square. Summer holidays just started, visitors from all over the world are pouring in.
On Sundays, the museum closes at 2:00 in the afternoon, and the last entrance admission is at 12:30. I did not think we would manage to get in the museum by queueing at the end of the line. While I was standing near the entrance trying to figure out the above mentioned entrance rules, my mother started a conversation with a group of five people who were queueing. My mother is the type of person who could break boundaries quickly with strangers. She is a naturally born diplomat. After a few minutes, she signalled me to approach the group and introduced me to them. They were seniors, coming from my home city Guangzhou, China. They were doing a European excursion. Eventually both my mother and I became part of the group and we entered the museum together at about 11:00 AM.
Vatican Museum is always a pleasurable place to visit. Such a treasure for the world to admire.
We strolled around until 1:30PM. We were exhausted, thirsty, and hungry. Vatican Museum always makes visitors feel this way at the end of the tour for there is so much to see, to absorb, and so many stairs to climb. Be prepared for it.
I was listening to my Ipod to keep my spirit up. After listening to all the uploaded songs, I switched to radio channel and it was one o'clock news, talking about the recent controversial debate between Italy and France. I read about it the day before in the news which the title was : "Florence requests Mona Lisa's return, Paris says no way":
Florence, 24 June (AKI) - Italy has launched a campaign to convince the Louvre Museum in Paris to lend the Mona Lisa painting to Florence's Uffizi Gallery in 2013 to mark the 100th anniversary of its recovery following one of history's most famous art thefts.
The Italian Culture Ministry and the Province of Florence have jointly launched an appeal to the French to lend them what may be the world's most famous masterpieces, but the prestigious French museum said the painting is not in the condition to withstand the trip south.
Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was briefly displayed in the Uffizi in 1913 after being recovered in a Florence hotel two years after its theft from the Louvre.
That was the last time it appeared in Italy and only one of three times the work was displayed outside of the Louvre, according to a statement posted on Thursday on the Province of Florence website.
Starting with Italian politicians, the initiative aims to collect at least 100,000 signatures to be sent to France in around six months, the statement said.
"This is not a declaration of war against France. It's an appeal aimed at collaboration," said Silvano Vinceti, the head of an Italian Culture Ministry historical society jointly organising the petition along with Florence.
"The Gioconda has left the Louvre museum three times. It can do so again," he said, referring to the Italian name for the Mona Lisa.
On Friday the Louvre released a statement saying that Mona Lisa is "extremely fragile" making it 1,100-kilometer trip to the Tuscan museum "absolutely unimaginable."
Interesting cultural event,isn't it? Italy owns so much historical treasure, however, just the absence of one Mona Lisa makes Italy feel there is something missing in their culture.
long queue alongside the wall
queueing
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| At the Sistine Chapel, no flash is allowed. |
